The Future
by classy-nerd-at-heart
Summary: It had been three years after the Miracle had ended. People were disappearing left and right and nobody could figure how or why... until now.
1. It's Not Over

It was happening. Things people would have never thought would happen. They were injecting people with some kind liquid. Something that they thought would help people. They've been taking little children as lab rats to test this liquid and hopefully have a breakthrough to later produce it to the public. Three years have past since the Miracle had ended and the kidnapping was getting worse. Babies. Kids. Teenagers. People of all ages were all secretly getting kidnapped so the scientists could finally perfect the solvent they desperately wanted.

Angela Moran was sitting at her desk looking at piles and piles of files on victims who were recently kidnapped. These weren't the only victims kidnapped. There are so many recorded kidnapping's that the FBI have many agents trying to solve one case. Rachel was the one of the leaders on the case; however, in recent events she had to step down because the FBI had reason to suspect that she was a mole during an investigation of another case and her case went to trial. So, the only thing she could do was work from her desk. She looked through each file trying to find a connection between all of the victims since it looked like they were picked at random.

Ryan Moran was sitting at his desk in the CIA headquarters. He had been hired by them a few months before the Miracle ended and many of the other employees were saying that he had replaced Esther Drummond. Ryan was a computer analyst and liason to the CIA and took his job seriously. He was looking at reports on his computer about the kidnappings happening all over the country and he had been getting calls from other countries that kidnapping's were also happening there. Ryan couldn't put his figure out where any of these people were taken and why.

Elsewhere in Torchwood, Jack, Rex, and Gwen were also looking into the kidnapped cases. In the last three years since the Miracle, over 100 people were taken and no one has been able to pinpoint their whereabouts. These people could be dead or something far worse. It been three years since Esther had died trying to end the Miracle that was destroying the human race and restore the laws of life. The Families were clever, but Jack couldn't help but think that the Families were behind the kidnappings. As a matter of fact, all three of the remaining members of Torchwood were wondering if the Families were behind it and that's what brought Torchwood on board. Their only problem was that they have to get around the FBI and the CIA. Since, Torchwood was dead and buried since Children of Earth, they were no where above the police.

Angela was at her desk trying to find any leads on the case when one of the agents got a call. "Hey Angela, I think I found something." Agent Holloway said urgently."Chris, I'm not the lead agent on this case anymore." Angela said."Actually, I heard you might be promoted back to that position just for this case because the department knows how good you are at this." Holloway said."Thanks for the flattery." she said."No problem." Holloway replied. "Now will you look at this?"Angela walked to Agent Holloway's desk. She didn't know what she was looking at."What is this?" Angela asked."I think that's the first lead in this case since we took it on." Chris said."Okay, tell me more." Angela said."Well, it's a dead body and it was dumbed in a park during the night." Chris replied."Well, I guess we should go check it out." Angela said."I guess we shall." Chris said.

Chris grabbed his coat and Angela grabbed her leather jacket and the were out the door. Angela and Chris got into Angela's car and they were on their way to the crime scene.

Ryan couldn't believe what he was reading. He saw newspaper articles and interviews from the Miracle that had never been given to the public. Stuff about the two families and the involvement of Torchwood in the case in which they solved. Ryan was confused; however, on two things - who was Torchwood and what was their prerogative? Ryan had only heard the name once in passing when he overheard two of his colleagues talking about it. Although, he had only been assigned to the CIA that day and didn't know what to make of it."Hey guys, take a look at this." Agent Hanna said switching on the television.

There was a report of a dead body found in a park in a suburban area; however, the FBI refused to give any more information about the case to the public, which was for the best. Now. Ryan had a feeling it was connected to the kidnappings. He tried searching more on the case. Something about the case drew him closer and closer to it, made him investigate more. After a while, Ryan got up and headed to his bosses office. Ryan entered. Agent Larson was at her desk."May I help you?" she asked confused."Um ma'am, I'm Agent Ryan Moran and I was investigating a lot on these kidnappings happening all around the world and I think it has something to do with Torchwood." Ryan said."What do you know about Torchwood?" Agent Larson asked sitting up in her chair.

The CIA had lost 2 of their agents on Miracle Day due to the in house corruption by the Families and the agents themselves and Agent Larson stepped in to correct it; which also mean't keeping Torchwood a secret - from everyone. "Well, I had stubbled upon some files from Miracle Day three years ago and it mentioned Torchwood." Ryan explained. "I think they have a hand in this." "Well, thanks for giving me your opinion, but I have agents already on it." Larson replied."I want in on this case." Ryan said bluntly. Larson just chuckled. "You're not serious?" she asked."Does my face look like it's joking?" Ryan asked rhetorically."You're just an analyst, you can't work case by yourself." Larson said."Oh really, watch me." Ryan began walking out of her office. "What has you so interested in this case?" Larson asked. "I don't know." Ryan said as he left the room.

A few hours later and Agent Larson walked into up to Ryan and handed him a file. "This is between you and me." she began whispering in his ear. "If any of this information gets leaked out or discovered I will deny all allegations." "Okay, thank you." Ryan said. Agent Larson just looked at him and then walked away. Ryan grabbed his jacket and his bag and proceed to his car in the parking lot below the building. He couldn't believe I got to work his first case alone.

Angela and Chris arrived at the crime scene. The body was laying face down on the grass. It was the body of a teenager. "The kids name is Ben Harrington." one of the detectives began. "He disappeared 2 years ago while walk home from school alone. His parents sent in a report, but his body was never found until now." Angela stepped closer to the body and began looking more closely at it. "What have you found on the body?" she asked. "Well, it seemed like the kid was melting from the inside, like something was trying to turn him into something." the detective answered. Angela looked at the body again. "Did you see any indication of these victims being injected with something?" she asked. "No, we search the whole body." the detective said. "Well, there it is." Angela began. "It looks like whoever did this injected him more than once try to see if whatever was in him would change in injected in different part of the body." The detective was speechless and stunned. "Well, thank you detective." Angela said. Angela began walking away and Chris followed. "Who do think is doing this?" Angela asked Chris. "I don't know, but it seems they want whatever it really soon." Chris answered. "Well, we got our first lead." Angela said. "Hopefully there will be more where that came from." Chris began driving. "Yeah, me too.


	2. That Relationship on the DL

Ryan Moran woke up to the sound of his annoying alarm clock by his bedside table. He looked to his left side to see his wife still sleeping. Although he wanted to spend time with her, he had to get ready for work. Today was another day at the CIA office. Another day to look at blogs and check for suspicious activity, as if he couldn't do that at home. He was; however, excited that he had a different case to investigate. It had to do with the kidnappings and Ryan had a thirst to figure out the mystery. Torchwood was also a mysterious case to him as well. He had a hunch that Torchwood was some how behind this or that it was one of their cases and he was desperate to find the truth. The first thing he had to do was go to the office and get the file, then head to the crime scene and he wasn't looking forward to it.

It took over 2 hours before Ryan arrived at the crime scene because his boss had him do some last minute work, but when he got there, he wasn't the only one there. How could he, since this murder was a domestic issue. The only thing he wasn't looking forward to was arguing with the head detective. He walk towards the crime scene and the head detective just looked at him. "Oh look whose coming." Angela said. Chris looked at Ryan. "Don't tell me this is now in the hands of the CIA." Chris said. "Don't worry, I'm just here to look at the body." Ryan said. "If you can get here." Angela retorted. "Oh, watch me." Ryan said. "Not if I stop you." Angela said. Chris was getting annoyed, he wanted to get on with examining the body. "Will you two stop flirting, you guys already spend a lot of time together." Chris said annoyed. "Can I just examine the body in peace?" Ryan said trying not to get into a debacle. "You can get all the information through the proper channels, this is our case." Chris said. "I don't see anything saying otherwise, Ryan." Angela said. "So go back to your desk and do your real job." Chris concluded. Ryan looked at Angela and Angela looked back at him. Without getting any information for the case, he walked back to his car and headed for CIA headquarters.

Ryan walked to his desk and began to do some other work. He thought of strategy to actually see the body. Ryan wanted to figure out what was happening as much as the FBI agents he had just met with do, but going through the proper channels wasn't an option. It took him about an hour or so before he could press on the case. He decided to try an find out if Torchwood existed. Ryan was at his apartment trying to look online or through government files about Torchwood. The only hit he did get was from the English government and he needed clearance from his boss to be able to look at the file. When Ryan got to his bosses office, she seemed like she was expecting him which was odd to him. She handed him a manilla file with "Top Secret" on it. "Here is more on Torchwood that I could find." Agent Larson began. "I need clearance for much of the information on them." "Your clearance authorization is in there as well." Ryan looked at the file. There were pictures of the members of the organization, some alive and some deceased. "Thank you." Ryan began. "I'll get right on this." Ryan walked out. He needed to see the body and he had just the way to do it.

Angela's cellphone rang as she looked at the case file she was currently working on. How could a body melt from the inside? She thought to herself. After her phone rang for a while, she picked it up. When she saw who was calling she rolled her eyes. She was thrilled he was calling, but also annoyed because she knew what he was going to try to do. "Hello Ryan." Angela said. "I know what you're trying to do. If you don't have clearance, you can't near the body." She listened as he was telling her everything he knew on the other end of the line. She gave it a thought. Angela was head detective on the case then, she could give him all the clearance and jurisdiction she wants. However, Angela was not that generous when it came to the CIA trying to be involved. It always seemed like every time they got involved with a case, the CIA took it over. "You're not getting the clearance that easily, even if I love you." Angela said to the phone.

Ryan really needed the clearance so he can finally see the body. Nobody knew about the case he was working on besides his boss and if any of it got out, he would probably be fired. "How about I take you out to dinner." he said trying to rack his brain on what to do to schmooze her. Ryan could admit, she was a hard person to schmooze; however, he was up for the challenge. Also, Ryan had been planning to take his significant other to dinner for a while, just didn't have the time and it conflicted with so much of their work. It seemed like work was taking over their love life. He heard the girl laugh on the other side of the phone. "No really, I'm serious here." Ryan began. "I want to take you out to dinner."

Hearing the sincerity in Ryan's voice was reassuring. Angela had never witness that before. He was always the guy that had a huge ego and very sarcastic; however, once in a while, the romantic and caring guy came out in public. "Well then, I'll take you up on that offer." Angela said agreeing. "Only if I can pick the place, I'm feeling like Japanese food today." She was waiting for a sarcastic and objecting reaction from Ryan. However, this time, she didn't get it.

Ryan didn't think it was the time to sarcastically answer her proposal. He didn't really want to answer her that way anyway and Ryan didn't want to object because he wanted to let her pick the place this time. He wanted it to be a surprise from her. "Sure, you could pick the place." Ryan said. "I'm up for anything tonight." Once he said that, one of his colleagues was motioning him to get off the phone, it was starting to look like he's flirting. "Well, I have to go." Ryan began. "I'll see you tonight and don't forget to send me that clearance, I'll be over in a couple of hours." After he had said that and they both said their goodbye's, Ryan hung up the phone. "Someone's got a hot date tonight." Agent Rimmer said. Ryan looked at him. "She's not a date, she's my wife." Ryan answered. "Oh, so taking your hot wife on a hot date." Agent Rimmer retorted. Ryan just rolled his eyes as the other agents were laughing at him. They always loved picking on him because he was the new agent. He grabbed his jacket and proceeded his way out of the CIA building.


	3. Ultimatum

It had been pretty quiet at Torchwood since the Miracle ended. Everything was going back to normal and people could finally die. For the first time, people were happy to die naturally instead of being burned alive due to the high occupancy of the human race on Earth. For about a 2 weeks, Rex Matheson had been tracking the disturbing occurrences of people being kidnapped and then ending up dead a few weeks later. The way they died is what was the most disturbing to Rex. It wasn't like a normal kidnapping and according to the reports, the victims had no stab wounds. Since Esther died, Rex had to his job and her job and he was happy to do it. The only repercussion from The Miracle was that Rex was now like Jack. He was literally like Jack...he became immortal. Rex didn't feel any different. He just did't have the pleasure of dying naturally like everyone else. Rex brought the kidnappings to Jack's attention, who later agreed. The kidnapping's were a domestic issue. They both knew they would have to break in to the FBI to obtain information because they also knew they were the only people who had a chance of stopping all that was happening.

Ryan Moran was incredibly relieved that he got the clearance he needed. He knew schmoozing his wife with a dinner date would get him what he needed. His intentions for that dinner wasn't purely for his job, he truly did want to go out to dinner with her...it had been months since they actually spent time together. Anyhow, Ryan was on his way to the FBI. He was glad that top secret mission didn't just end before it began. When he entered the FBI, he went straight for the morgue. What better way to obtain information about a mission, but from one of the dead victims. Although, Ryan wasn't the only one with that idea. There were three other people with the same idea he had. The recent victim, Benjamin Harrington, was found in a park. Ryan looked at the body. The body looked like it was melting from the inside. Ryan searched the body for stab wounds or injection sights. The only one he found was on the neck. _What the heck did these people do to you?_ Ryan asked himself. All of a sudden, Ryan heard a voice. He'd never heard the voice before, so he knew it wasn't his wife. "I guess we're not the only one with this idea." Jack uttered. Ryan turned around. Two other people emerged from behind him. "What happened to this poor boy?!" Gwen asked in shock with a thick Welsh accent. A black man walked beside her. "This kid looks like he's frozen from the inside." Rex replied. Ryan recognized these faces. They looked like the people from the file he had in his car about Torchwood. _Nah, this can't be. Torchwood is defunct._ Ryan thought to himself. Ryan came back to reality when he realized that he was asked a question. "Huh?" Ryan asked previously not listening. "Who are you?" Gwen asked with a suspicious look on her face. Ryan couldn't give his name away, he was undercover. "Richard." Ryan began. "Why are you looking at a melting body?" Rex began. "Who do you work for?" Ryan did agree that it was really weird that he was in a morgue looking at a body melting from the inside. It was beyond a science experiment. "I can't tell you that." Ryan replied. It was true, he couldn't tell anyone who he worked for...it was classified. For the first time, there was no sound coming from Jack. Jack only continued to look at Ryan. Ryan knew that his "cover" was going to be blown. He could see from Jack's eyes that Jack could see right through his "makeshift" façade. "You work for the CIA." Jack began as he walked toward Ryan. "You're here on a mission to see what happened to this boy just like we are. Let's not forget the other thing on your agenda," Jack stopped close to Ryan. "meeting us...Torchwood." Ryan just stood there stunned. Jack dictated his intentions right on par. "How do you know that?" Ryan asked defensively. "Can we not start this game of 20 questions please?" Rex began. "Weren't we here to inspect this body?" Ryan and Jack continued their stare down until Jack finally broke away and faced the body. There wasn't much to inspect. The body looked like it was melted from the inside, so any indication of wounds would have been melted away. "I think I have all the information I need." Ryan replied as he backed away from the body and proceeded to make a run for the entrance. He wasn't sure what to make of the people who call themselves _Torchwood_. He wasn't sure if he could trust them. All of a sudden Ryan found himself being stopped by the black man. "I don't think you're going anywhere." Jack began. "You are going to stay with us and you are going to help us solve this case whether you like it or not." Ryan remained silent. He thought it would have been better that way. "Besides, I don't think there is much to see from this body anyway." Jack replied "Let's go."

Ryan sat in the back seat of the car next to Rex who was giving him the "I-don't-trust-you" look. Ryan was actually kind of terrified by Rex. He felt like he was being held prisoner or being taken captive by the people who call themselves... _Torchwood_. Ryan thought about trying to plan his escape, but then he thought began to think of another solution. [i] Maybe I should see how this plays out.[/i] He began to think. [i] Maybe it would shed some light on the case. [/i] So instead of resisting, Ryan just quietly sat there listening in on their conversations and the plans they were making in pursuit of finding out what is killing on these kids. They drove in a mini cooper. It was a cramped car; however, if Ryan complained then he might end up hurt or worse. The four stopped right next to an apartment building. It looked like a decent one too...at least for Washington D.C. They later entered an apartment that was full of tech, Ryan got all gitty and happy inside. "So this is Torchwood?" Ryan asked trying to start a conversation. "Well duh, what did you think it was?" Gwen began. "The Louvre." Ryan chuckled a bit. He knew that was a rhetorical question and decided not to answer it. Jack took his jacket off. "Look, we know who you really are so you can cut the act." Jack began. "We know you work for the CIA. We know your name is Ryan Bradford and you replaced our dear friend and also CIA analyst Esther Drummond." Ryan was taken aback by this. How did he know his name? Ryan had never met Jack before, but then from the look of the technology they all had access to, it wouldn't be surprising if they were tracking him like he was tracking them. "And?" Ryan asked. "You seem like you want to know a lot about us even when your boss told you that our case was a classified case." Jack began. "How would you know that Torchwood would be have a hand in this kidnapping case?" Ryan really didn't know what to say. At first, the Torchwood case was very interesting and he had come across it in a file that was left in the desk of the person who previously owned it, he intrigued by it. Then there were these kidnapping's and at first, Ryan didn't know that Torchwood played a role in the whole thing. He still didn't know. All he knew was that they were at the morgue the same time he was. "I didn't know Torchwood played a role in the kidnapping case. I just saw the file on you guys tucked away in my desk." Ryan explained. "I guess it belonged to your friend Esther."

Ryan took a seat. "Look, since you have the same skills as Esther and you are a CIA operative, we need your help in solving this case." Rex began. "We won't let you free unless you do this for us." Ryan knew there was a catch somewhere. Why else would he be taken to their headquarters? It wasn't because they wanted to recruit him...or was it? Without seeing much else he could do from this point, Ryan knew what he had to do. "Okay, I'll help you." Ryan replied. "Let me call my wife first." The other three looked at each other and nodded. Ryan proceeded to dial his phone. "Hey Angie, I just wanted to let you know that I will be late tonight, I'm on a case so don't wait up." Ryan said. "I love you." Ryan then hung up the phone. "Well, what would you like me to do first?" he asked.


End file.
